Wizard of Oz: The Return of the Witches
By Mutitoon90
Chapter Eleven
As the light, which had radiated for a few minutes, started to faded, a group of uniformed animals exited from a portal and were followed by a woman with blond hair and a purple outfit. This was Tech's friends, the Loonatics, and his boss, Zadavia, and all of them were there in the Land of Oz to search and rescue Tech.
"So, dis is where Tech's at?" Ace, a rabbit in a black and yellow uniform, asked the boss and ally of the team.
"Yes." Zadivia nodded to the leader of the Loonatics.
"We would have been here to rescue Tech, if Duck hadn't his feathers in a pillow about some boots and a cape that he'd lost in a bet a couple of years ago." Lexi sharply stated as she glared at the mention member of the team.
"Hey, I'm here!" Danger Duck was offended by how Lexi was talking about him, and then he bluntly added, "I saved him from Black Velvet, so he'd owed me!"
"Whatever!" The other members of the group groand upon hearing Duck's excuse from stealing the lab coat and the clue in finding help in rescuing the kidnapped coyote.
Duck did not appriciate being dismissed in such a manner, even though it was his choose that both lost him the bet and lost time in saving Tech.
Then, Rev, a roadrunner, voluteered himself to go ahead to check out the area and the lair of Tech's captors in his usually fast-talking manner.
"I'll-go!-After-all-he's-our-good-friend,-and-if-anything-should-happen-to-him,-things-wouldn't-be-for-us,-and-things-wouldn't-be-good-for-him!-I-mean-"
"Get going!" Duck shouted, doing the only bit of team effort he had put into since the whole event started.
"Sorry!" Rev realized that he was supposed to be looking for Tech, "I'm-going!-I'm-going!"
Then, the roadrunner dashed into the Dark Forest, searching for his friend, comrad, fellow inventor and teammate.
Meanwhile in the castle of the Wicked Witches, all those in the dungeon could feel the light's powerful radiance touching them, and yet they were unharmed by the light that beamed out of the Darkness Machine. After many minutes of light and silence, the machine started to shut down, much to Tech's and Vicki's relief.
"The machine's going down." Tech sighed out, and Dorothy said, "I hope that includes the light!"
"Same goes for me!" Alice called out to anyone that could hear her.
Soon enough, the light faded back into the machine, allowing everyone to see without the concern of losing their eyesight. However, they were seeing spots, despite that they had shielded their eyes.
"Whoa!" The farmgirl explained as her eyes started to adjust the currently dim dungeon.
"You can say that again!" Vicki rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the spots in her view, "Ow..."
Once their eyes stopped seeing spots, the small group of allies saw a strange, human-shaped stain on the wall. Dorothy was the first to ask about it.
"Isn't that where Mombi was at?"
"That's right." Tech confrimed the farmgirl's assumption, "It looks like Mombi's shadow was burned into the wall by the overly-powered light, although the Power Emerald surivied the light."
"Her shadow!?" Alice joined Dorothy in exclaimed in pure shock upon hearing the coyote's theory of the burnt-in shadow.
After thinking for a few moments, Vicki said bluntly, "That makes sense."
Then, the young witch noticed a form on the floor, laying next to the Darkness Machine, and that caused her to ask, "Who's that?"
"I don't know." Tech answered Vicki, "I've not seen her before."
Then, the three foreginers looked at Dorothy, who felt the pressure on her, and that caused her to say, "I don't know everyone in the Land of Oz!"
"By the look of her clothes," Alice stated with a thoughtful tone, "it wouldn't surprise anyone that she could be part of a court."
"Well, she's not a part of Ozma's court." Dorothy stated to the group.
"Then, whose?" Vicki asked the farmgirl-turned-princess, who replied with a confused tone in her voice, "Whose indeed."
As the group talked about the being, the mentioned being started to stir, feeling very odd and ill. She started to push herself from the ground, but she felt so weak that she grabbed the bench that was next to her, letting out an attention-grabbing grunt.
The small group looked at the female that was trying to pull herself from the floor. Dorothy was the first one to take action by going to her and offering a helping hand.
"Do you need some help, ma'am?"
The being was startled by the offer and took a look at the farmgirl. Upon seeing the other female, the strange female backed after from Dorothy, like the farmgirl was a carrier of a deadly ailment, and Dorothy was confused about the situation.
"Hey, my clothes aren't that bad!" Dorothy's attempt at joking was not well-received by her allies and only confused the stranger.
"Why are you?" The woman looked at Dorothy with a confusion on her face, and then she looked at her hands. She looked at the adopted princess and asked her, "Do you have a mirror?"
"No..." Dorothy shook her head, unsure about the strange woman's reaction to her answer.
"Do any of you have a mirror?" The woman's attention was turned to the others, who all shook their heads and said in unison, "No..."
Without any answers from the group of five, the odd woman made her way out of the dungeon, stumbling as she ran and causing concern to be aroused among the group.
"We'd better get after her!" Vicki announced as she started to follow her, and none of the others attempted to argue against the idea.
Making sure that the strange woman was within their sight and not harming herself, Vicki, Tech, Alice, Dorothy and Toto followed the confused woman as she reached a room and entered it. The group of five entered the room right after her.
The small group were surprised that they found themselves in a bedroom, which was decorated in strange markings and red letters that in a strange language, and the woman was standing in front of a shattered mirror in awe of her reflection. None of the group knew what was wrong with the woman.
She looked very youthful in her red and black dress and her white pearl necklace. Her dark hair, although it was a little messy, was done in a bun. Her skin was pale, but it was nearly flawless, since there were a paler line-like markings from her eyes to her cheeks.
After a moment of silence, Dorothy was the first to speak to the well-dressed, yet mildly messy-looking, woman by asking, "Are you all right?"
"I... I don't know." The woman answered the question.
Another moment of silence passed between the woman and the group, and then the woman asked Dorothy a very strange question.
"Do you know who I am?"
"No, I don't recall ever meetin' you before now." Dorothy's confusion was greater than her fear of the woman.
The odd woman, then, said something that really confused the adopted princess to the point of her no longer wanting to asking any more questions.
"I'm the Wicked Witch of the West!"
"That makes no sense!" Alice was just as confused as Dorothy, "She had green skin and warts!"
Tech was confused as the girls, but he did ask Vicki about the possible transformation of the 'witch.'
"Vicki, is there a possible chance that she's really the Wicked Witch of the West?"
"It's possible." A thoughful tone was in the young witch's voice as she answered Tech's question, "These kinds of transformations are not all that uncommon, however a reversal transformation is even rarer."
"A reversal transformation?" Dorothy and the strange woman asked in unison.
"Yes." Confirmed Vicki as she remused speaking, "It's just trickier than the normal transformations, and it's usually after a condition was met.
"That makes sense." Tech took in the information from Vicki very well.
"Of course!" The odd woman exclaimed at her own forgetfulness, "It's been while since I've studied such things."
Then, the woman fell silent, looking very guilty as she looked away from the group, who became concerned about the woman.
"Are you well?" Alice stepped towards the woman, who stepped away from the British teenager.
"You're acting like we're goin' to hang you from the tallest tree in the whole Land of the Oz." Dorothy stated, trying to make light of a not-so-bad situation.
"But I'm- I was the Wicked Witch of the West." The woman stated loudly, "I did horrible things to you and anyone that enraged me! You, your friends, all of Oz, Oscar..."
"Was she the real you?" Dorothy asked the odd witch, who looked and was confused by the adopted princess's choose of words.
"I... I don't know." The better-dressed witch said, sounding unsure in her own words.
"Well," Dorothy continued to speak, "I don't think she was the real you; just a version of you if you were truly evil, and I don't think you're a real Wicked Witch."
"But I still did horrible things to other people; how can anyone trust me again?" The odd woman looked away from the others.
"Show them that you've truly changed." Vicki stepped towards the reformed witch, "It takes time, but people will warm up to you, once they see that you're a good witch."
With a shocked look on her face, the strange woman looked at Vicki and asked her, "Are you sure?"
"Although what I've done was minor in comprasion to your actions, I've gone through a lot of jabs and taunts from my fellow witches, and the fact that my family's got a few rotton apples hanging from the tree didn't help me at all. However, with time and support from those that believed in me, I've gained back the respect of those that taunted and gossiped about me, despite that tongues like to flap."
A shy smile graced the formed Wicked Witch's now-pale skin as she said, "I can only try."
"Naturally." Alice bluntly stated, but she and the others noticed that the odd witch's smile faded as she asked, "But what if I fail?"
"Then, try again." Tech spoke up to the ex-hag, "I try and fail many times before I get it right, but if you give up just because others can't see the good and only the bad things of your past, that's when you've really failed."
"How can you know that?" The strange witch inquiried to the coyote. The response that was given to her was truly unexpected on her part.
"Regradless of you are or were," Vicki spoke after Tech, "trying is the only thing that can produce any results, good or bad."
The former hag looked at her new allies and smiled, saying, "If you all are willing to assist me, I think I'll have a chance."
"You've got to help yourself too." Dorothy sharply stated, "After all, it's really gonna take a lot of effort on your part, Miss..." Dorothy, at that point realized that she never learned the odd woman's name, causing her to ask, "Your name? Sorry about not askin' for it earlier."
"That's all right." The better-dressed witch laughed a little before introducing herself as, "Theodora."
While in the Dark Forest, the Loonatics had to stop their search for Tech because one of them had managed to injure himself.
"How was I supposed to know that tree was in front of me?" Rev nursed his aching head, which was from running into a tree in super-high speed along with the slowed rate of speech.
"How did you fail to realize that running into an area that was overflowing with light was a bad idea?" Duck asked the bruised roadrunner, who threw a dirty look at the self-rightous water fowl before admitting defeat to Danger Duck, and that was a surprise for everyone that heard it.
"You're right."
"That was unexpected." Lexi bluntly stated, still stunned by both the roadrunner's admitting that Duck was right and the fact that Duck was right.
The others agreed with the lone female of the team without a word, because they were all stunned by the strange event that had unfolded in front of them. Thankfully, Ace was able to recompose himself to regroup the team.
"Come on, guys!" The male rabbit announced to the others as he helped Rev to his feet, "Tech's in trouble, and we're clowning around with Duck and his problems!"
"Hey!" The mallard exclaimed in annoyance, but his words fallen on deaf ears as the four other members and their boss continued into the deeper part of the forest. Seeing that he was being ignored, Duck marched on, muttering crude comments about Tech and how he would managed to get attention by being captured by insane indiviuals.
Once Duck had finished his comments about Tech, Lexi called back to Duck, saying, "I'm making sure that Tech hears everything you've just said, Duck!"
Hearing this, Duck rushed to the female bunny and started begging her not to say a word of what he had said about Tech, and that caused the rest of the team and the boss to snicker at the begging drake as well as a couple of whispered comments.
"Think-that-Lexi-would-rat-out-Duck?" Rev asked Ace, who replied, "Unless Duck manages to make some kinda deal with Lexi, my money's on her telling on him."
Rev covered his beak to cover his smile and muffle his laughter. Slam, who was normally on Duck's side, could not help himself from laughing at the drake's misfortune, but he did try to cover his amused face from his friend whenever the duck looked at him.
"You'll get yours..." Duck growled as he heard the laughter that was coming from the rest of the team.
Soon enough, the Loonatics reached the castle that belonged to the Wicked Witches. Nearing the place, Duck's ability to make comments made itself useful.
"I wonder who's the gardener, 'cause it looks like he needs a career change."
"No kidding!" Lexi with Duck, while Slam just nodded his head in agreement.
Ace, who wasted no time, told Lexi, "Hey, use your ears to pick up any noises in there."
Lexi used her super-hearing to listen to the inside of the strange estate. Everyone was quiet for a few moments before it was broken by Duck, who was easily bored.
"Com'on!"
The group quickly and harshly hushed the big-beaked bird, who fell silent with a look of annoyance on his face.
"I hear something!" The she-rabbit announced, causing everyone to forget about Duck and turn their attentions to the pink and black rabbit.
"Is it Tech?" Rev asked, since he was good friends with the coyote.
"I hear him," Lexi stated as she continued to listen, "as well as a few girls' voices."
Duck laughed through his beak before saying, "I wonder if the girl that sent Tech the lab coat would like hear about this."
Lexi, who knew about Tech's long-distance relationship, knew that Duck was deeply mistaken, since she could hear the voice of the girl that Tech had been talking to for the past few months. However, she was not going to say anything about that yet.
"Let's go in!" Rev announced, and Slam shouted in agreement.
"Give me a minute." Lexi said, and a few seconds later, she said, "I don't hear anything that sounds like an enemy."
"Then, let's go!" Ace shouted, and the team entered the castle.
Upon entering the castle, the Loonatics searched the castle as best as one team of superheroes could. However, it was Lexi that found Tech.
Lexi, using her super-hearing, followed the sound of the coyote's voice, and when she reached the door to the dungeon, Lexi was about to open the door, and the door was opened by Tech.
"Tech!" Lexi exclaimed in relief, and Tech, who was not expecting any of his teammates in the Land of Oz, asked, "What are you doing here!?"
"We came to rescue you; you're our friend and teammate." Lexi poked the coyote in the chest as she spoke to him.
"The whole team's here!" Tech was shocked in a pleased manner.
"Yeah!" Lexi shrugged her shoulders, "We would have been here earlier, but Duck took your lab coat, thinking that he was entitled to it."
"The Black Velvet mess..." Tech groaned in disbelief; after all that time, Duck was still angry about losing the bet.
"I know." Lexi rolled her green eyes at what she had said, "He wonders why that he's not the most popular member of the team."
"No kidding." Tech chuckled as he recalled the times that the orange-claded member of the team would complain about his low popularity.
"Tech," a voice echoed from behind the coyote, "who's that?"
Lexi saw an African-American woman in her twenties appear from the dungeon that the coyote had remerged from, looking a little dirty and disheveled. However, Lexi knew right away who the young woman was by the sound of her voice.
"You must be Vicki." Lexi extented a friendly hand to the young witch, "I'm Lexi, one of Tech's teammates."
Vicki, sensing no hostility from the rabbit-girl, took the offered hand and shook it, saying, "Nice to meet you, Lexi."
"Hey,-guys!" Rev's voice echoed throughout the castle, "Lexi's-found-Tech!"
That caused the rest of the Loonatics to regather at the door of the dungeon. Once there, the team and Zadavia were trying to figure out how he managed to escape.
"Well, it was Vicki, who was the one that helped me; she had the key that helped with the escape." Tech blushed as he looked at Vicki, who smiled back at the genius.
"Wait just a minute!" Duck broke up the look that Tech and Vicki with his loud voice, "How do we know that she's not the one that kidnap Tech in the first place?"
The team fell silent for a moment, but Zadavia was able to answer the orange mallard's question.
"Well, she's a young witch, but she's been under the great care of the Witches' Council, who make sure that all of their charges and wards are not causing trouble while making sure that no one is trying to control them."
"How did you that?" Ace asked the blond human-like woman, who smiled as she said, "Let's say that this isn't the first time that I've dealt with magical communities."
Everyone was surprised to hear the statement, but Duck was the one with his jaw on the floor. However, another voice echoed out of the dungeon, grabbing everyone's attentions.
Out of the dungeon, Dorothy, Toto, Alice and Theodora entered the team's sights, and that caused Duck to try to blame one of them for the kidnapping of Tech. This time, Duck was not far off in his accusation.
"Well," Theodora looked sheepishly at the Loonatics as she spoke, "he's not mistaken about me."
"What makes you say that?" Ace asked the red-claded witch, who answered, "I'll explain it once the Power Emeralds are returned to the Emerald City."
Duck heard 'Emeralds' and asked, "How many of the Emeralds are there, and how can we help you?"
The rest of the team heard the statement, and there was a collective roll of the eyes. They knew that Duck wanted some of the Emeralds as a reward.
"Thank you for the offer." Dorothy spoke to Duck, who looked confused about the girl, "However, I've got the returnin' the Power Emeralds covered."
"How?" Duck laughed at Dorothy, who threw a dirty look at the mallard, "You've got some dust that could make anything fly?"
As Duck continued to laugh at the young girl, the young witch and the British girl were giggling themselves, since they remembered how Dorothy managed to get them out of the Emerald City and to the Dark Forest.
"Nope." Dorothy shook her head as she looked at her allies and asked them, "Are you ready to go?"
"Oh, yeah!" The girls giggled as they answered.
The adopted princess looked at the Ruby Slippers and clicked them three times as she said, "I wish that all of here and the Power Emeralds were in the Emerald City."
Duck was still laughing at Dorothy, but he was laughing even harder upon hearing the girl's wish. Hovever, he stopped laughing when the wind picked up and blew around him and the others.
"What's going on?" Duck managed to eked out of his beak as he recovered from his shock.
"I think we're going to the Emerald City." Ace answered before everyong in the castle disappeared along with the Power Emeralds.